Four new exhibits went up recently at the Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art, each with its own flavor to suit visitors.

Tracy Houck, executive director of the Square, called bringing all the exhibits together “serendipitous.”

Three of the artists hosted a reception Aug. 5 — LA Hoffman, Kendra McKlosky and Sukha Worob. The fourth, Liisa Nelson, who is finishing up her time as artist-in-residence at the Square, will have her own reception Aug. 12 for her exhibit “Anomaly.”

“They talk about capturing culture in their artwork, social interactions and how that plays out,” Houck said. “So it’s very serendipitous that they’re all going to be on exhibit all at the same time.”

Hoffman’s exhibit, “Build,” is a juxtaposition of urban and rural landscapes. Hoffman grew up in Shelby but now lives in Seattle.

In particular, Hoffman examines the differences in the architectural styles and types of buildings and how they reflect the needs and values of the people who construct them.

“There’s awe in what has been accomplished in the buildings (in Seattle),” Hoffman said. “That’s not something (Montanans) lack. We’ve done that very well; we just do it in a different way.”

The exhibit is a mixture of images of buildings and pen-and-ink drawings of everyday tools, like kitchen and woodworking tools, “things we use every day to make something.”

Hoffman also includes the fruits of her “sketch-a-day” project, in which she completed one pen-and-ink sketch each day for a year. They will be set up like a collage, with “three acts” of 122 sketches each, she said.

Hoffman’s work has been in the Square’s art auctions, but she has never had art in the gallery. Having grown up in Shelby, she said that having her art shown in Great Falls is an important milestone.

“It’s important to me to maintain the Montana connection,” she said.

Opening at the same time as Hoffman’s show is “Giving up the Ghost” by McKlosky, in which she studies the marks left by mining in Butte and the Clark Fork River. The Whitehall native grew up surrounded by mining — its culture and physical presence — and in this exhibit will examine the physical skeleton of the industry.

Finally, Sukha Worob’s “Lost in the Crowd” is already on exhibit at the Square. Worob looks at the interactions among groups and social constructs. “Lost in the Crowd” includes a mural that visitors will be able to add to using stamps.

“Through our meaningful interactions as a social group, we hold great creative potential. Potential that is much larger than each of us as individuals,” Worob wrote in his artist statement.

Nelson’s exhibit “Anomaly” is an examination of the objects people use in everyday life and what those objects say about them.

Nelson scours thrift stores, garage sales and even Dumpsters to find odd or unique objects, then incorporates them into clay sculpture.

“Part of my work is investigating what it is that makes objects precious to people,” she said.

But investigating the objects that intrigue us isn’t the only aspect of “Anomaly.” The second part of the project is to study the contrast between human’s place in a natural, ordered world and how the objects people make contradict what is natural.

“So I’m thinking about how the way we’ve become as humans, and this material culture, how did this come out of the same nature that plant life came out of, and looking for some of the same patterns, the patterned principles of nature,” she explained.

Nelson is finishing up her year as the artist-in-residence at the Square, during which time she worked with Great Falls Public Schools to provide art instruction to students. Her new show at the Square is a sort of exit show to coincide with the end of her residency, she said.

Houck said that with the addition of the four new exhibits, all of the Square’s seven galleries will be full.

To Go

The artist reception for Liisa Nelson is Tuesday, Aug. 12 from 5:30-7:30 p.m at Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art. Nelson’s “Anomaly” will be on display through December. Sukha Morob’s “Lost in the Crowd” will be up through Oct. 25, and LA Hoffman’s Build and Kendra McKlosky’s “Giving up the Ghost” will be on display through Dec. 6. Admission to the museum, located at 1400 1st Ave N, is free.